Dubai: Sand in every pore and tonnes of sand in my shoes — that’s not what I bargained for. But the roller-coaster drive through desert as far as the eye could see was exhilarating as I undertook my first Gulf News overnighter Fun Drive two years ago.
A steep slope that landed our new 4x4 toy into a well of loose sand turned out to be one of the aberrations for us in the otherwise great outdoor event. The novice off-roader that I was, I tried to wriggle out of the predicament by accelerating but kept digging in further. I rolled down the windows to see how deep I was in trouble and tried to get out of the sticky situation with low differential gear. The vehicle refused to budge, and in the melee my car — inside and outside — is covered in sand.
Strangers soon gathered in a show of great camaraderie to help us out — some suggested that we rock the vehicle sideways so that the wheels were lifted up by the sand and the vehicle got enough traction. This didn’t help either. Eventually, we had to be winched out by a marshal.
More agony lay ahead. While we thought that the going was good, we were greeted by a dead-drop that sent our muscular 4x4 hurtling down in a nose dive, slightly damaging the front bumper. But help was at hand. A mobile service team that was cross-crossing the route to assist Fun Drive participants appeared there in a wink. One yank with a crowbar and the fender, which was hugging the right wheel after the loud thud, was disengaged and we were back on track.
I should have heeded Naheed Patel, I thought.
She tried to dissuade me from registering for the Liwa event, saying it’s a treacherous route that could pose nasty surprises for a novice off-roader and instead I should wait for the following year’s drive in Dubai.
But that drive from Mafraq Hotel in Abu Dhabi to the Moreeb Dune in Liwa remains a memorable experience.
It was my teenaged son who insisted that we should go ahead as planned — and I was pleasantly surprise by the sheer number of vehicles in the desert, where everyone helped each other with cars stuck in the sand, punctured or ripped-off tyres. Great camaraderie was on display in abundance in the vast expanse of Rab Al Khail, which offers endless dunes in a range of hues.
I am no more a novice. Last year’s Overnighter from The Sevens to Al Lahbab appeared tame. I drove with confidence and fewer unpleasant moments. Only after seeing scores of other cars stuck did I realise how good I was. But then between these two Fun Drives we went on dune bashing in Dubai and Sharjah several times on weekends with friends, which helped hone my off-road skills and graduate me to a veteran of sorts.
We wanted to take part in this year’s Gulf News fun drive, too. But exams are around the corner for my son who is in Grade 12. No regrets, for it was equally amazing to just sit through the day-long drive in a press car and enjoy — take in the sights and sounds and capture spectacular scenes through the greenery of Umm Al Quwain and the Fossil Rock in Sharjah’s Maliha area, tweet and blog on the go for Gulf News.
But getting behind the wheel and tackling the challenging dunes is entirely a different experience. How I pined to ask our driver Tony to allow me to take the controls! But hey — the next Gulf News Overnighter Fun Drive is just 12 months away!!
